Super Bowl Media Day used to be an almost total theatre of the absurd, with goofy broadcast reporters from every corner of the football world trying to get attention by doing something outrageous. Not this year.

There were a few clowns – including one actual clown who apparently got lost on the way to Mardi Gras – but the back-to-back media sessions featuring the 49ers and Ravens on Tuesday were relatively tame compared to, say, the year a pretty reporter from Mexico’s TV Azteca showed up in a wedding dress and proposed to Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.

No doubt, that was probably the combined result of a tighter Super Bowl credentialing policy and a still-struggling global economy, but there were still plenty of stupid questions (“Hey, Willis, what’s your favorite Mutant Teenage Ninja Turtle?”) and quite a few stunning international “news” reporters. So, it wasn’t a total loss.

Still, I think the fans who paid $25 for the privilege of sitting in the stands and listening to the interviews with a tiny earphone radio would have been better served to get a bigger taste of the circus that used to be Super Bowl Media Day.

I considered dressing up as Father Time and asking Ed Reed why he still planned on playing next season, but all the costume shops in New Orleans are sold out with Fat Tuesday just around the corner.